HMS K13

In early 1915, a requirement arose for a new type of fast submarines capable of operating with the Grand Fleet, which would operate ahead of the fleet in conjunction with the fleet's cruisers and attack an enemy force before the battleships would engage. The submarines would need a speed of at least 21 knots on the surface in the rough waters of the North Sea, with this being beyond the capability of conventional diesel-powered submarines. To meet this requirement, a 1913 design for a steam-powered submarine by the Admiralty's Director of Naval Construction was passed to Vickers for detailed design. The submarines were long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a surfaced draught of . Displacement was on the surface and submerged. The steam engines required large openings in the pressure hull, with two funnels and four air intakes, which had to be closed off and made watertight before the submarine submerged. The funnels hinged into the submarine's superstructure and the openings by the funnels and air intakes sealed by electrically operated valves. The submarine had a range on the surface of at (powered by the diesel engine) or at full power. The submerged endurance was much less than expected, at and at . ==Accident==

On 29 January 1917, K13 was undergoing final pre-acceptance trials in the Gareloch, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. During a dive in the morning, a small leak had been reported in the boiler rooms, so a second dive was programmed for the afternoon. All boiler room vents were opened to clear the boiler room of steam to aid searching for the leaks. At about 3:00 pm, the submarine went to diving stations, and after confirming that the engine room had been shut off, the submarine was dived. She had 80 people on board - 53 crew, 14 employees of the shipbuilders, five sub-contractors, five Admiralty officials, Joseph Duncan, a River Clyde pilot, and Commander Francis Goodhart and engineering officer Lieutenant Leslie Rideal, both from her sister ship K14, which was still under construction. As she dived, seawater was seen to be entering K13s engine room, and the submarine's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Commander Godfrey Herbert ordered watertight doors to be shut and ballast tanks to be blown to bring the submarine to the surface, and then the drop keels released. Despite this, the dive could not be stopped and the submarine was soon stuck fast on the bottom of the Gareloch. The crew of , another submarine undergoing trials on the Gareloch, watched K13 dive and became concerned that the dive did not "look right" and raised the alarm. Two men were seen on the surface by Annie MacIntyre, a maid in a hotel a mile or so away, but her report was ignored. The first rescue vessel, the torpedo gunboat , had started searching for K13 using grapples by 23:00. Attempts to send divers down were delayed since Gossamer had a diving-suit but no diver, and when a diver arrived from Fairfields, he was nearly drowned when the suit, which had not been used for years, burst. Herbert reached the surface alive, but Goodhart's body was later found trapped in the wheelhouse. 32 people died in the accident and 48 were rescued. 31 bodies were expected to be still on the submarine, but only 29 were found, and it was concluded that the maid had indeed seen two people escaping from the engine room. They were later identified as Engineer-Lieutenant Arthur Lane and Fairfield foreman John Steel. Lane's body was recovered from the Clyde two months later, Steel's body was never found. The engine room hatch was also found to be open. ==Subsequent service==

K13 was raised on 15 March 1917, and was subsequently refurbished and entered service under the name K22, On the night of 31 January 1918, units of the Grand Fleet, including the 13th Submarine Flotilla (the flotilla leader and the submarines , , , and K22) and the 12th Submarine Flotilla (the light cruiser and the submarines , , and ) set out from Rosyth to take part in exercises. Despite the night being very dark, with occasional patches of fog, the ships were running without lights. When K14 altered course to avoid a number of minesweepers ahead of her, her rudder jammed and she was rammed by K22. The two disabled submarines were then overtaken by the heavier units of the fleet, and K22 was struck by the battlecruiser , destroying the external ballast tanks on K22s starboard side. Despite the damage, both submarines remained afloat, with K22 making her way back to port under her own power. On hearing distress signals from the two submarines, Commander E. Leir aboard Ithuriel decided to turn the Flotilla back to go to the assistance of K14 and K22. This put the flotilla on a collision course with the rest of the fleet, including the 12th Submarine Flotilla. On meeting the fleet, Ithuriel had to turn to avoid the battlecruiser , which took the flotilla directly into the path of the 12th Flotilla. Fearless collided with K17, which sank, then K4, following Fearless, pulled out of line and stopped to avoid hitting K17 and Fearless, and was herself hit by K6, which cut K4 in two, and K7. Two submarines had been sunk with 103 killed. K22 remained part of the 13th Flotilla at the end of the war, and by March 1919 was part of the 3rd Submarine Flotilla. She was sold for scrap on 16 December 1926. ==Memorials==

The war graves and a monument to those who lost their lives in the K13 sinking was erected by the ship's company, of the submarine depot at Fort Blockhouse, Gosport. It is to be found at the entrance to Faslane Cemetery, at the head of the Gare Loch. A memorial to the disaster was erected in Carlingford, New South Wales, Australia, paid for by the widow of Charles Freestone, a leading telegraphist on K13 who survived the accident to later emigrate and prosper in Australia. The memorial was unveiled on 10 September 1961 and has the inscription "This memorial has been created in memory of those officers and men of the Commonwealth who gave their lives in submarines while serving the cause of freedom." Set inside a pool of water surrounded by stone, it is composed of large (taller than a man) white letters saying "K13". There is a further memorial in Elder Park, Govan, opposite the Fairfield shipyard. ==Citations==